GROVE CITY - While people are generally aware of key characters in the story of the American Revolution like George Washington and the Marquis de Lafayette, few of them are probably familiar with William Thompson.

The Rev. Robert Guy of Grove City, along with his uncle, Kenneth Hoover of Michigan, hopes to change that. As

descendants

of Thompson, they have unearthed enough information about him to prepare an exhibit at Pittsburgh's Fort Pitt Museum.

Researching letters, documents and other sources, the duo found that Thompson made important military and territorial decisions during two major American wars in the Pennsylvania region.

During the French and Indian War, he commanded troops from Carlisle to Fort Pitt (an area called the "Shadows of Death") and participated in the Kittanning Raid, in which 300 men attacked the Indian town of Kittanning in retaliation for French and Indian raids on white settlements.

Later, he was active during the Pennsylvania/Virginia boundary dispute and surveyed Westmoreland County, setting a precedent for the way future boundaries would be decided.

When the American Revolution broke out, Thompson was appointed captain of the Westmoreland Rangers and eventually became a brigadier general.

Guy, a chaplain at Grove City's Grove Manor, a nursing and assisted living facility, said he and Hoover became aware of Thompson about five years ago, when a relative who was studying the family's genealogy mentioned that Thompson was their ancestor.

At the time, "The name didn't mean a thing to us," Guy said.

They started doing more research and slowly discovered more and more pieces of the puzzle.

"It was quite unbelievable," he said. "We were constantly questioning ourselves, (saying) 'This can't be true.'"

They did research for five years and worked on the exhibit for three years. Guy said he and his uncle worked well together because Hoover specializes more in artifacts and military history, while Guy was more interested in writing descriptions and putting the history into words.

They were motivated to put the exhibit together by the celebration, which began this year, of the 250th anniversary of the French and Indian War.

"It finally dawned on us, yes, this is something, it really has been overlooked," he said. "The story is one that hasn't been told and ought to be told."

The current exhibit includes several military uniforms, weapons, tools, surveying equipment and other artifacts from the history of William Thompson and his era.

Before coming to the museum, it was displayed at this year's NRA convention in Pittsburgh, where it won the top educational award.

Since then, Guy and Hoover said they have gotten constant feedback from visitors who say the exhibit is informative and exciting, as well as somewhat provocative.

The research sheds light on some new historical details. For example, an educator at Fort Pitt, Doug MacGregor, found that Thompson was the first person to survey the city of Pittsburgh. George Washington also looked to him when he wanted to start an army from Pennsylvania in 1775.

"One of the things we're highlighting at Fort Pitt is the many ties he had to the fort itself," Guy said.

Chuck Smith, site administrator for the Fort Pitt Museum, said the exhibit fits in well with the museum, which focuses on Western Pennsylvania in the early 1700s through 1800s.

"This would rank as one of the nicer ones we've had," Smith said about the exhibit, which Hoover and Guy put together entirely by themselves. "I think (with) the contents and the way they're displayed, both of them have done very, very well."

Despite the fact that they were researching their own family history, the men said they strove for accuracy. Guy admitted history can be biased, but said there is also some kind of natural corrective over time.

"To be quite honest, I think history has been unjust," he said. "I think there's been a lot of tendency toward stereotype. ... Our objectivity is a must for durability."

After its time at Fort Pitt is up, the exhibit may move on to other places. Guy said it is tentatively scheduled for a museum in Bedford, and will eventually move to other sites in eastern Pennsylvania.

He and Hoover are also working on a book about Thompson, which does not have a scheduled publication date.

"We don't have anything set in stone ... but our desire is for it not to be just a local book," Guy said.

Ultimately, he believes the new information about William Thompson will make "folks that think they have Western Pennsylvania figured out" think again.

"It's very exciting because we're not just perceiving this as our family story, we're perceiving this as a Pennsylvania story," Guy said.

The exhibit is open from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Wednesday through Sunday until Nov. 14. It is included in the regular price of admission to the Fort Pitt Museum, located at 101 Commonwealth Place, in Pittsburgh's Point State Park.